Alicia Keys’ ‘Keys’ album returns her to her piano homebase

By GARY GERARD HAMILTON
Associated Press

New York (AP) — Alicia Keys hasn’t felt completely free for much of her career. And while that may sound surprising coming from the heralded musician, these days, she’s loving the makeup-free skin she’s in and is settled into a space of confidence and liberation which has manifested into her new album, “KEYS.” The project is a back-to-basics approach for the classically trained pianist with a heavy emphasis on the instrument that catapulted her career into superstardom. The 26-track album is broken down in two sections: “Originals” which features many piano-driven songs, followed by the “Unlocked” portion which contains more hip-hop and four-to-the-floor remixes of those tracks.